Brews & Views
Denver, Colorado Travel Itinerary & Guide
3 Days in Denver, Colorado
I have completely fallen in love with Denver! Enjoy this itinerary which will take you to some of the best restaurants and activities.
Day 1:
Wooden Spoon Cafe & Bakery
Start the day bright and early with a wonderful and quick breakfast at the lovely café: The Wooden Spoon. Here we had the cherry Danish, the egg bacon arugula sandwich, prosciutto croissant and an iced coffee. Everything was prepared perfectly with such great flavors at an affordable price. (Make sure to drink a big glass of water here so you won’t be dehydrated on the Mount Evans Hike.)
Mount Evans
Mount Evans was about a hour and a half drive that is actually really enjoyable. Once you reach the base of Mount Evans, it costs $15 to enter into all 3 of the paid zones. In Mount Evans, you can do mini hikes and explorations around various areas, including Mount Goliath, Echo Lake, and the peak. Keep your eyes peeled for wildlife! We were fortunate enough to see marmots, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep.
Make sure to bring a jacket and some long pants, even though we visited during the middle of July (downtown Denver was 90 degrees) the temperatures dropped around Mount Evans to 50 degrees and it actually snowed on us at the peak!
Also be very careful when driving as the roads twist around cliff edges.
Idaho Springs
A charming town that we almost passed by, luckily our stomachs were rumbling from the hike.
Beau Jo's Idaho Springs
There were plenty of restaurants that looked excellent but we decided to stop in Beau Jo’s Colorado Style Pizza and boy were we lucky! One of our favorite meals in Colorado was here. After around a 45-minute wait for two people we devoured the salad bar and had a two pounder split in half with the Plantation (ham, pineapple chunks, mushrooms, red onions, Rocky Mountain honey and whole milk
mozzarella cheese) and the Motherlode (Beau Jo’s pizza sauce, pepperoni, bacon bits, meatballs, Italian sausage, salami, ham and whole milk mozzarella cheese) on wheat crust. It was an amazing meal that sent us into a food coma and didn’t break the bank either.
Drive around: Buffalo Bill's Gravesite
After Idaho Springs we drove back towards Denver and stopped at Buffalo Bill’s gravesite and the Buffalo herd lookout (didn’t see any buffalo) and truly wouldn’t recommend either unless you have a little extra time.
We then headed back into the city and rested for a little.
Larimer Square
Larimer square is beautifully arranged with hanging lights and Colorado state flags. And the best part is the streets are lined with terrific restaurants. Our VRBO host recommended Rioja, which is one of the top results on Yelp, and also one of the more expensive restaurants in Larimer Square. I highly recommend making a reservation; we were lucky to get a table for two without a reservation after an hour wait at 9pm. You can make a reservation here: http://www.riojadenver.com/
(We actually put our name down and went to Union Station first, but if you have a reservation you might be able to walk right in without having to worry about missing your table being ready.)
Rioja
The cocktails were excellently prepared and went well with the meal. The food was great and continued to put a smile on our face after every bite. The Melon and Speck as an appetizer was very unique and was filled with diverse flavors (Hawaiian red crab, tempura jalapeño, Korean red pepper, cilantro-melon coulis, micro basil). For our entrées we had the mouth watering grilled Kurobuta pork chop (frisée, roasted chanterelle mushroom, apricot-arugula vinaigrette) and the pan seared barramundi (pea-crème fraiche salad, honey poached carrots, pea shoots, carrot-coriander nage). Both were cooked perfectly and served with such care. It was truly an experience to dine at this restaurant.
Union Station Terminal Bar
Great for people watching, shopping, and enjoying a nice day. The 16th street mall has taken a full street and made it a pedestrian walkway only. This makes for an interesting venue with life size pong (like beer pong-minus the beer and you’re playing with a giant ball and trashcans) chess and checkers (bring your own pieces), life size chess and checkers (do not have to bring your own pieces), mini bikes to hop over small ramps, and DJ booths. On Saturday there were small shops set up like a farmers market as well.
Day 2:
Denver Biscuit Co.
Oh Denver Biscuit Co., how I still dream about you to this day. We started off our meal with the biscuit cinnamon roll of the day then about half way through we were greeted with two biscuit sandwiches: the Dahlia (Housemade sausage patty, apple butter, fried egg & maple syrup) and the Franklin (Buttermilk fried chicken, Tender Belly bacon, and cheddar cheese smothered in sausage or vegetarian mushroom gravy). All three dishes were incredible, the cinnamon roll is one of the best I’ve ever had and probably the best I will ever have. I would have to say that the combination of the Dahlia and the cinnamon roll was a little too much sweet for me, but a cinnamon roll and the Franklin would be a good pairing-just remember it’s a lot of food! We visited the Tennyson Street location, which is combined with a pizza restaurant. This is the kind of breakfast that might make you feel guilty, but don’t worry the Red Rocks Hike coming up will cleanse all of your guilt away!
Red Rocks Amphitheater
Drive about 30 minutes West outside the city to check out the world famous Red Rocks Amphitheater and then enjoy a nice hike through the Red Rocks Park. You can also sign up for yoga in the amphitheater (http://yoga.redrocksonline.com/yotr). If you’re really interested, make sure you book ahead as it can be booked out months in advance. Check out http://redrocksonline.com/ to see when the amphitheater is open for walk ins (many times they close around 1pm-2pm to prepare for the night’s show). If you can’t make yoga, bring your running shoes to run the amphitheater rows and steps like a local. If that’s not your thing or you’re still in a food coma from the Denver Biscuit Co., take a few pictures in the amphitheater and head toward the south parking lot to jump on the Trading Post Trail, which is around 1.4 miles. Be sure to check out the visitor center and displays on your way out.
I See What You Mean
After your hike head back into downtown to check out the Giant Blue Bear peeking into the convention center window (Known formally as “I See What You Mean”).
The Tea Cloud
The Tea Cloud features an exciting assortment of loose leaf teas and combinations of various flavors that will help cool you down on a hot summer day (or warm you up on a frosty day). They also have boba as well. I enjoyed the mango, orange, and yogurt boba mix. Once you have your cup of deliciousness walk down the 16th Street Mall.
16th Street Mall
Great for people watching, shopping, and enjoying a nice day. The 16th street mall has taken a full street and made it a pedestrian walkway only. This makes for an interesting venue with life size pong (like beer pong-minus the beer and you’re playing with a giant ball and trashcans) chess and checkers (bring your own pieces), life size chess and checkers (do not have to bring your own pieces), mini bikes to hop over small ramps, and DJ booths. On Saturday there were small shops set up like a farmers market as well.
Taqueria La Familia
Such a delicious family owned Mexican restaurant. Grab a few yummy tacos.
Finn's Manor
After putting our name down at Hop Alley we took about a 10-minute stroll down the street to Finn’s Manor, another collective eatery and bar. This place is just as cool and unique as Avanti. The drinks were excellent and the environment was lively. I would have loved to spend more time here as the food looked excellent and the drinks were great. The food ranged from Thai, Philippine, to Jamaican. After a few rounds of drinks, the hostess texted us and we made the trek back to Hop Alley.
Hop Alley
Hop Alley is a family style Asian fusion restaurant with an absolutely perfected drink and food menu. The drink menu is diverse and parts of the menu are named after the 12 zodiac signs. If you’re not too sure what to get, tell the staff what flavors you’re interested in and they’ll be sure not to disappoint. I had the Horse, which was delicious. For the food, in order of my favorites first, we had the Shanghai rice cakes, Beijing duck roll, beef chow fun, koji lamb skewer, and bone marrow fried rice. Everything was prepared and served perfectly; I wish I had two stomachs at this restaurant just to enjoy more of the incredible flavors. Next time I come back to Denver, this will be the first restaurant I go to! (This is a must while in Denver.)
Day 3:
Getting closer to Taupo : Huka falls, sunny brunch close to the lake and afternoon dip into natural hot springs.
duo Restaurant
Review after review told us to visit Snooze for brunch, but after being told it was 1 hour and 45-minute wait for 2 people, a local told us you couldn’t beat Duo. Be sure to make a reservation at Duo, the restaurant is small but if you don’t have a reservation you might be lucky enough to get a seat at the bar. The spicy bloody mary heavy on the spicy) and the cider glazed pork benedict were excellent. We also had a breaded pork chop with gravy that was my favorite (looking back I can’t find the name of it on their menu online).
Denver Botanic Gardens
Take a drive to the other side of town and enjoy the number 1 stop on Trip Advisor: the botanical gardens. To be honest, it wasn’t my favorite botanical gardens I’ve seen (Singapore might take the cake on that) but it was really fun to walk around and enjoy the sun. Parking is a little limited in their designated parking but on the street parallel to the entrance we found some street parking.
Avanti
Head to Avanti and award yourself with a cocktail or beer from the roof top patio looking out at the beautiful views of downtown. Take time and relax (or work hard to try and find a seat, took us a little while but it’s not impossible). If you didn’t grab food at Taqueria La Familia, check out some of the restaurants in the collective eatery.
Little Man Ice Cream
Walk or take a quick drive to Little Man Ice cream. Oh, this was so good! I might fly back to Denver just to have the Twix flavor again. The line can get long, especially on a sunny day, but look down the hill a little as sometimes they have an express booth with a few of the most famous flavors.
Tips and Tricks:
Lodging: We stayed at the best VRBO.com location I have ever seen (even compared with Airbnb). It was a terrific location. Incredible attention to detail, every time you walked in you would notice another outstanding feature. I would highly recommend staying here and booking with the kind and warm-hearted hosts. https://www.vrbo.com/570697
